The Box is an Israeli company that specializes in interactive "advertainment" -- viral videos and cross-media campaigns that cover the Internet, mobile and television. The viral video "Everything is Under Control," for French business-management firm Vizelia, is a typical example. The Box is the first content-related investment by Greylock Partners, a firm known for its role in funding Facebook, LinkedIn, Zipcar and DoubleClick.
The Box added two board members: Moshe Mor, a partner at Greylock’s Israel fund; and David Chissick, a media and technology entrepreneur with experience identifying entertainment-related businesses for American media companies.
In Israel, The Box has produced cross-platform campaigns for Nike, Coca Cola, Orange, Doritos and Disney. The company recently launched “CelebZ” (above), a 30-minute prime-time animated series where viewers create 25 percent of the show’s content on a companion Web site. Viewers drag and drop characters, backgrounds, scripts and music to create sketches which are put to a nationwide vote. The winning sketch then professionally produced and integrated into the next week’s episode.
Graylock declined to identify the size of the investment more precisely than "several million dollars." But the investment is intended to give The Box money to forge and deliver on partnerships that will take it beyond the Israeli border.